Retrofitting M steering wheel Sorted thanks to Pawnsacrifice

Z

z4alfie

Active member
 North East UK
Well,

Got up nice and early, prepared all the necessary tools, disconnected the battery and waited twenty minutes.

The release clips for the airbag were tricky as described in the 'How To' guide but I managed to unclip it after a few attempts., Unclipped the airbag from the wheel and broke the top off one of the connectors. It is a kind of fold down flap which keeps the wires covered. I'll place it back on the clip and it should be ok I am hoping.

The wheel lifted off easily with the 16mm socket as described. All so far so good.

I swapped over all of the gubbins using a variety of Torx Head bolts (I was surprised and pleased to find I had all the necessary sizes) and then came the notorious plastic trim.

Took the two side bits off easily enough and swapped them over. The bottom one was more challenging but I got it off, mainly in one piece. Last bit involved some very light pressure which snapped one of the two plastic screw housings off.

Now for the question........ How long does superglue take to dry?

Once its dried I can start to put it back onto the wheel and it should be Hey presto.

Thanks for the advice from the thread from when I bought the wheel and to Mr Gringo for our discussion on the phone and the advice to take pictures once the wheel was off (very good advice)

Now to wait.........
 
Superglue should be fairly instantaneous but it's worth waiting for a hour if you can! This is a mod I want to do but have usually been outbid when an M wheel comes up for sale as I can't always be available sit by the computer in the last few frenetic moments of E Bay bidding! Pics when done...?
 
z4alfie said:
Thanks for the advice from the thread from when I bought the wheel and to Mr Gringo for our discussion on the phone and the advice to take pictures once the wheel was off (very good advice)
Click to expand...

No problem! :thumbsup:
Hope you manage to get the bottom piece on ok!
 
why wait for 20 minutes when the battery is disconnected???

remember not to pay more than €300 or so for a new M steeringwheel with buttons .

a new one at the dealer costs about €350>_ so why get it from a ebay dude in another country.

do you also wanted the multifunc buttons? then you also need a addition wire for connecting the wheel
 
After a very promising start, I have totally fecked the bottom spoke. I tried with great patience and gently but firmly tried to refit it to the new wheel. Unfortunately, I have now broken both plastic screw thingys and three of the six clips. I am infuriated. Can I buy a new bottom spoke from the dealer? I have put it on and whilst I love the feel of the new wheel, the bottom spoke is not properly snapped together and needs to be put right ASAP. Also, now need to reset the clock and cant find how to do it in the handbook. Overall, 70% satisfaction at this stage.
 
AlanJ said:
Superglue should be fairly instantaneous but it's worth waiting for a hour if you can! This is a mod I want to do but have usually been outbid when an M wheel comes up for sale as I can't always be available sit by the computer in the last few frenetic moments of E Bay bidding! Pics when done...?
Click to expand...

The superglue wasnt enought to hold once you start to put the screws back in :( I will need to buy a new bit of trim. Ive looked on the OEM site and it seems to come with the wheel. That cant be right can it? Has anyone got as spare in the garage? Ive tried to get it to fit but whilst it will click together, without the screws it springs apart again. Shame really as it was a straightforward job apart from the bottom spoke issue.
 
You can buy just the spokes on there own but it is a complete set and the cost is ridiculous for what they are, you could try supergluing the two sides of the bottom to each other in place and securing with tightly wound tape until the glue drys, not an ideal situation but one that could save you an awful lot of money.
 
z4alfie said:
After a very promising start, I have totally fecked the bottom spoke. I tried with great patience and gently but firmly tried to refit it to the new wheel. Unfortunately, I have now broken both plastic screw thingys and three of the six clips. I am infuriated. Can I buy a new bottom spoke from the dealer? I have put it on and whilst I love the feel of the new wheel, the bottom spoke is not properly snapped together and needs to be put right ASAP. Also, now need to reset the clock and cant find how to do it in the handbook. Overall, 70% satisfaction at this stage.
Click to expand...
I thought the bottom spoke didn't fit the M wheel properly :idunno:
 
Alfie,
I went through the same issue - I bought a bare wheel then realised that my old wheel didn't have trim pieces that came off!

I found out a few things that might be useful
1) You can't get the non-MF ///M trim pieces without the wheel
2) You can get the MF prepared trim pieces without the wheel (but without the MF Buttons) 32 34 8 035 326
3) You can get the plain pieces for the "Individual" trim, which will fit the ///M Wheel, but will say "Individual" on where it usually says ///M on the bottom piece 32 34 8 035 330
4) Any set of standard pieces cost £117 (you can probably get them 10% cheaper)Cooper Parts
5) If you decide to order you can save 10% by getting it through daveg's recommended Lincoln dealership.

In the end I decided to buy a second ///M wheel, which came with the MF buttons for £195. I then sold the wheel for £100 which meant I got the MF buttons and trim for a little bit less than the trim pieces on their own would have cost me. My situation was a bit different having no pieces available to start with, I had also picked up a tri-colour wheel which I wanted to keep. I think that there are a couple of people around who may have spare trim pieces - if I were you I would try and find one (they've been mentioned on posts in the last month).

Hope you manage to sort it out
 
Thanks,

I've had a PM from Pawnsacrifice who has offered to help me out. I rang Soper this morning and whilst they tried to help they couldnt find the solution. Other than sell me the trim in black with the MF holes punched in for a zillion quid. a non starter on all accounts.
Fingers crossed for my offer of help and Ill keep you posted, cheers for the advice........soon could be :driving: with my lovely new wheel
 
Well, A massive thanks to Pawnsacrifice. I was well and truly stuck with this bottom spoke problem. Got a PM from PS who offered to help me out. Not only did he give me some great advice, he had a spare spoke, cut it down to fit my M wheel and posted it to me at his expense. What a fella. It arrived today and fits perfectly. I'm over the moon and my faith in human nature is restored. We should start a thread for the most outstanding Z4Forum member. First nomination is my new mate from the south :D
 
z4alfie, very pleased it all worked out :thumbsup:

While I appreciate the gratitude, I think it's indicative of what people do on here... it's why I like the place. There are a lot who've done a lot more, I'm still earning my stripes. I don't think there is a single mod I've done yet where I haven't had help or advice from someone else... considerable in some instances. In fact, from the very start; I found the forum through a photo PVR had posted on how to remove a the air central air vent :thumbsup:

Viva la forum!

:ilz4f:

Love in over.... :worthless:

By the way, how'd you like the new wheel?
 
sandere85 said:
srhutch said:
sandere85 said:
why wait for 20 minutes when the battery is disconnected???
Click to expand...

Otherwise you risk the airbag going off in your face
Click to expand...

nonsense!

really no need to wait!
Click to expand...

:o

Not sure about setting the air bag off, but if the electrical system doesn't completely shut down you will get an air bag error code when you switch back on. That you will need to get reset by a dealer or similar. Same applies for the air bags in the door and possibly the passenger seat sensor (not sure about that last one). I won't shame him here, but there was someone who set the light off with the door air bag.

:!: I wouldn't advocate trying this without waiting the 20 minutes. I think there is a way to discharge the system once you've disconnected the battery, but frankly it's not worth the risk and use the time to walk over to Caffe Nero :wink:
 
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